March 2016

Dear friends,

As our 2016 academic calendar kicks off, we welcome new students and colleagues, and look forward to a great year of research, teaching and collaboration.

In this edition of Student Spotlight we profile two postgraduate students who have been applying their CSC skills to help communities. Kirsty-Lee Workman has been supporting members of the rural Darling Downs town of Oakey transition towards a mining-free future. Ana Maria Gallon has been conducting research to assist the launch of Pets in the Park Brisbane, a new veterinary service for the pets of people who are homeless.

This month we welcome new PhD candidate Paul Halman, who will bring his extensive international experience to a research project on affected community perceptions of humanitarian aid and disaster relief. We also congratulate Mohammad Makki who was awarded his doctorate late last year for his fascinating comparative research into community responses to coal seam gas mining in Queensland.

Prospective students take note - the School of Communication and Arts is now offering a new two-year 32 unit Master of Communication (Communication for Social Change) postgraduate degree, designed for students coming from non-communications backgrounds. The existing 1.5 year 24 unit Master program will continue to be offered, although the entry requirements have changed.

In From the Field we feature a Q&A with CfCSC PhD graduate Dr Sim Sar, who is now Program Director of the PNG National Agricultural Research Institute.